Five-member expert committee to study city’s fire safety needs

Surat: Municipal commissioner M Thennarasan on Sunday announced setting up of a five-member expert committee to study the fire safety needs of the city.
The committee consists of Om Prakash Bhagat, former fire adviser, Government of India; Narendra J Pal, former assistant vice-president (fire) Reliance Industries Ltd; Akhilesh Sadhankar, deputy director (consultant), National Fire Service College, Nagpur; BK Pareek, additional chief fire officer, fire and emergency services department, Surat Municipal Corporation; and Hansa Patel, executive adviser, All India Institute of Local Self-Government.
The expert committee will submit its report within a month to Thennarasan. It will look into aspects of manpower availability and its shortfall considering the city’s needs, its complexities and anticipated hazards and available equipment for life safety in Surat city and its surroundings.
The committee will also work on the aspects of fire service infrastructure to meet the challenging demand of a modern city with multiple challenges, prevailing practises at fire service to manage life safety in Surat city and best practises of fire and emergency, both at national and local level.